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Anymore Football Recruits Sign? More Idaho?

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Nobody is meaning to degrade Idaho talent, but it is what it is.

The state year after year does not produce a ton of Division I talent. ISU can see more Division I caliber athletes in a fraction of the time if they recruit the larger cities.

The fact that Idaho State has 20-25+ athletes on its football team with Idaho ties is a wonderful accomplishment for ISU football and the athletics department.

However, I'll take them from near of far--they are all Bengals and a fair number of kids actually stay in Idaho and call Pocatello home. I am grateful for each and every kid that commits to being a Bengal. With poor facilities, brutal scheduling and the losing tradition that surrounds the whole athletic department--finding kids that are willing to put that aside and become Bengals--they are a special breed and it does not matter to me where they come from. I'll take them in and welcome them in, because they are fighting and believing in turning a program around that has struggled for the better part of 25 years.
 
Trying to play devils advocate here.....What if we had mostly Idaho Players? Could the win/loss record be any worse? I don't think so.
Would we fill the seats more? Yes
Would that generate more $$$? Yes
Would it cut down on the budget and be more cost effective? Yes

I know that in 1-A you have plenty of Money. In 1-AA you have to find ways to generate money and going mostly Idaho in my opinion would put a whole lot more butts in the seats which = more pressure on players to perform at a higher level in front of family and friends. (see University of Montana)


I am not saying that Idaho players are better or worse then other state players. Coaches know what they are doing. I don't really care who we have playing, as long as they represent the University with the upmost respect and play their heart out and leave it on the field. Oh yea, and WIN!!!
 
God this gets old. Get the BEST player available! It doesn't take rocket science. WINNING WILL DRAW FANS! Would we fill more seats with more Idaho players? No. Pocatello has proven that.

It's about population. It's simple math. There are 35,000,000 people in California. There are 11 D-I programs in that state (FBS & FCS). What's that? About 3,000,000 per school? How many people in Washington are there? 6,000,000? 3 D-1 schools. That's an average of 2,000,000 per school. Idaho has 1,500,000 people. That's 500,000 per D-I school. ISU, like most other schools in the US, will go to where the most population is. You get more bang for you buck if you travel once to a major metro area, because you can see countless number of quality players. It can take a good day to schedule a trip to just one school in Idaho to see one POSSIBLE prospect.

It's a two way street, too. ISU coaches are doing a great job getting out into Idaho. HS players ALSO have to make their talents known. They need to go to camps. They need to develop a relationship with their coaches about contacts. I knew a guy whose kid had so-so stats at a 4-A school. He complained about ISU and BSU because they didn't offer him. I asked him how his kid did in the summer camps compared to other athletes. He responded that his kid didn't go to any camps, because he wanted to have the summer to have fun. DUH!

BengalCub is right. EVERY public football program in the U.S. WANTS to recruit locally. It makes financial sense. Some populations are bigger than others. You have to go where the recruits are. Wyoming has something like 10 Wyoming kids on its roster. Montana has 2 D-I schools, both FCS. Montana has less than 1,000,000 people. Unless there is a star recruit like Ryan Leaf, schools aren't going to fly into Montana and recruit. That's another reason why Montana doesn't have as many recruits leave the state. Like I said, schools want more bang for their bucks. Montana is a rural state, with the larger cities hours apart. It makes more sense to fly into Seattle, Denver, Spokane or Portland, visit dozens of recruits over the course of a day or two.

Some of you should be smacked for thinking out of state players don't give it their all. Shame on you. Some of you would be wise to get to know some of the out of state players. Find out which players are the most receptive to new recruits. You'd be surprised to know that at least in the past, the Idaho players were some of the worst to talk to. They kept saying how it sucked in Pocatello, how Idaho is boring, how they couldnt' wait to get out. Yeah, that's a lot of pride for Idaho kids, isn't it? The kids coming from out of state do it because they actually LIKE the area. They LIKE the school. They LIKE the people. Hell, if you want the truth, there are a lot of Idaho kids who are damn lucky they are even on ISU's roster. I won't name any names, but they wouldn't start on an NAIA team. Most of you know who they are.

No out-of-state players, then no Mike Machurak. No Ed Bell. No Jared Allen. No Pago Togafau. No Eddie Thompson. No Eddie Johnson. No Jeff Charleston. No Case de'Bruin.

This topic pisses me off, over and over. Sorry for rambling.
 
Oh yeah, Jim Koetter was another ISU player who was an "out of stater." He remained in Pocatello, and look at the legacy he left on local football!
 
11 division 1 schools in california? i got usc, ucla, stanford, cal, san diego state, fresno state, san jose state, sac state and cal poly slo..... thats 9 - who are the two i seem to be missing?
 
UC Davis.... SMC used to field a team just a few short years ago. That is 10, can't think of 11. Regardless, that was an excellent point.
 
UC Davis is one. I can't figure out the other.

It is a good point. Plus, how many JC schools does CA have? People need to remember that JC kids are a part of the equation as well. CA is fertile, absolutely fertile.
 
There are a limited number of Div. I level kids in Idaho every year. ISU usually gets the lions share of these kids as far as the in state schools go. ISU or Zamberlin do not need to apoligize for the effort made recruiting in state kids, they are doing just fine. Roar you are going to have to show me the statistics showing recruiting and signing in state kids improves attendance enough to matter. The only attendance increase I saw when the basketball team had three Idaho kids starting was the Stuckey family. And they will be gone after this year. Orange you are making an arguement that has been hashed over every year for the past 15, and I will say, not as well as many before you. If we had to play just with the Idaho kids on the team right now, how many games would we ever be in, let alone have a chance of winning. Winning is what puts butts in the seats, not signing the Highland football team and losing 62-0.
If your kid wants a chance to go to college on a scholorship, you had better start marketing him now. Go to camps, attend combines, send out video, but don't expect your high school coach to place him, it is not their job, it is yours. Without the assistance of the local high school coaches in the state it is impossible for ISU, Idaho, or Boise to know about every kid who can play in the state. See what I said above, it is not the high schools coaches job to get your kid a scholorship, plan on doing it yourself. The exceptional kids like Hill will always draw attention, but the good players who are scattered around the state have to be willing to promote themselves. As was mentioned prior to me, many local kids just don't want to go to ISU. Ever listen to Miller's dad on the subject, and you wonder why their kids don't want to come here. My attitude, so what, go somewhere else if that is what you want. One thing I agreed with Lewis on, "if they don't want to be here, we don't want them".
 
Can you say biggest game in town. Please try and read what is posted by others, the Montana arguement was covered already. You have been around for what, a month or two Orange. As I said, none of what you have said is new, just not as well presented as others have done.
 
Here is another statistic...BSU, BYU, Utah, Utah State, Idaho. Four Division 1 programs within 200 or so miles of Pocatello.
 
GoBigOrange, here's a statistic: 101-133-2. Montana's record from the first year in the Big Sky, 1963, until 1985, the last year it played in its old crappy stadium on Higgins. Dornblaser was crappy. In 1985, Montana drew an average crowd of 5,599. So what happened?

Denny Washington of Washington Group Int'l, the same company which took over Idaho's MK, donated at least $1,000,000 to construct a new stadium, Washington-Griz Stadium. It opened in 1986, the same year Don Read took over the program. Montana has won ever since. You might say the stars were all lined up perfectly.

Montana had LOTS of in state kids prior to 1986. They didn't start to win consistently until they built a new stadium. Hmmm, I'm no genius, but I'm thinking there might be a correlation between new/improved facilities and winning. Kinda makes you appreciate the plans for Bengal Village, eh?
 
Blackfoot, you surprise me....I thought out of all the guys on here you were the most pro-Idaho. Have I ever said ALL IDAHO? I've said MORE IDAHO! Actually I have been reading posts for a long time but I got sick of reading the same BS from the same posters so I decided I would share MY OPINION...WHICH IS MY OPINION. I do not have a kid that wants or wanted to play at ISU...My children are grown...and I only have girls so that is not my agenda.I am just a sports nut. Evidently you are from Blackfoot....Is there not one kid from Blackfoot High or Snake River in 4 or 5 years that is good enough to play at ISU? I know this same subject has been hashed out for the last 15 years....Please enlighten me with a better presentation. I hear the same thing year in and year out at my work place about ISU not recruiting enough Idaho kids. I am really not the only fan that feels this way! I'm all for Bengal Village but I doubt that will ever happen if Pocatello won't even pass a school levy.
 
GOBIGORANGE said:
...My children are grown...and I only have girls so that is not my agenda.I am just a sports nut.
Click to expand...

Could you or could you not expand your argument about ISU getting more Idaho kids for sports other than football? Because you only have girls, do you believe the women's programs at ISU need to recruit more ID young women will boost attendance/winning? I trying to recall former and current athletes from ID (since the mid-90s) in the women's programs that, in my opinion, were key contributors to their respective programs. The bottom line, as mentioned ad nauseum, is that winning gets people in the seats. Maybe a handful of the crowd are there to see the locals, but when Ardie and Jon were consistently winning, WBB attendance was up. When soccer went on their BSC three-peat, attendance was up.

WBB - Ashley Toner-McNeal (Burley), Michelle Grohs (Salmon)
Track - Jackie Paulson (American Falls), Sydney Wendt (Idaho Falls), the gal from Pocatello who excelled in the throwing events (got a scholly to a Pac-10 school then returned to ISU)
Volleyball - Joy Kugler (Pocatello), Penny Snedden (Bear Lake),
Soccer - Peterson sisters (Blackfoot); too many to recall for now, but I know Gordon did a good job of getting players from the Treasure Valley and in SE Idaho


From Idaho, by way of Washington, by way of New Jersey, this is John Clayton, BengalDen.com :D
 
Okay, I say this slightly tongue-in-cheek, but if Idaho State really wants to be successful in football, shouldn't we be recruiting more Montana kids? Afterall, look at how successful Montana is with so many Montana players?
 
Just thinking out loud hear like everyone else. NO one knows the right answers as of yet.
I am like Orange on this subject. Not all Idaho just more maybe? Of course a team could not have all state players but a few more in the mix wouldn't hurt. There has been many players BB&FB not get offered but go to another school and tear it up.

My thoughts about attendence blackfoot, Has anyone been to a Highland/Poky game? How about any state playoffs games in the dome? What about the Byu/ISU game this year. A hell of a whole lot more people then the ISU games. My thoughts are people follow their kids-grandkids-friends-neighbors etc. They feel they have stock in the game. Did you see the group of people that were there for Nick Hansen when weber/Isu played? I saw a slew of people that i had never seen at the game before.

I don't want to be in a game or keep it close. I want to win. So my above comment is would it hurt to get more in state players? Would our win/loss record be any different or would it be worse? I don't think so.


I am all for the recruits and welcome all the out of state players like our own. I think we have a great incoming class and a bunch will produce and i also think we could get a lot more in state players and it wouldn't hurt the process. GO BENGALS!
 
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